Advice for Success in the American Corporate World

A majority of my students are educated professionals. They are MBA’s, engineers, research scientists, lawyers. Some of them had already achieved a level of success and professional respect in their native countries before coming to the US. Others got their graduate degrees here.

They are able to express themselves in a sophisticated and eloquent way in their native languages. Even though Americans regularly compliment them on their fluent English, (and indeed, they are very fluent) they are secretly frustrated inside because they know that their ability to communicate in English limits them.

One of the common themes that I hear from them is their frustration about not being able to express themselves the same complex way in English. They struggle to search for the right word to accurately express their ideas and they worry that native speakers may not recognize their intelligence and expertise because of this. I get this question over and over again: “How can you help me to express myself more like educated native speakers?”


I have many suggestions about fixing this problem. For many years when I used to teach at Santa Monica College I focused on vocabulary development and business communication. I will share my suggestions to you in the coming blogs that I plan to write.

Right now I want to tell you about a product that I recently discovered when one of my students brought it to class. It’s the best vocabulary book for professionals that I have come across. I am very critical of language books and I don’t recommend them unless I really believe in them. So many books end up being a waste of money. I have a collection of ESL and business English books in my personal library, and I am familiar with the good ones and the bad ones. I used to sit on various book selection committees at the colleges where I taught.

If you are serious about improving your ability to communicate with more confidence in the American corporate environment, I strongly suggest that you get this book. It's got very useful vocabulary that is used by successful executives. The link is below. Actually, now they sell it as CD audio set so that you can hear the words and the example sentences. It’s great to listen while you drive. It also comes with software with exercises. (My student showed me the old version which used to be in book form. It’s the same material, but now just on CD)

It's actually designed for Americans who don’t feel comfortable about their ability to express themselves well due to a lack of powerful and educated vocabulary. So, you should already be an advanced speaker of English. Otherwise, don't buy it because it will be too advanced for you.

Here's a quote from the website that summarizes it:

"A Human Engineering Laboratory Study tested the vocabularies of thousands of people in various careers and age groups, and found that the people drawing the highest salaries scored highest on the vocabulary test. In fact, their results were so consistent that the researchers declared there was only one trait common to all successful people: A superior vocabulary."

Here is the website so check it out. It's kind of expensive but it's worth the price. If you get it, let me know what you think of it. http://www.executive-vocabulary.com/